The Urban Sustainability Frontier

Our partners in Urban Sustainability Associates have generated new knowledge, practices, and innovations in many sustainability issue areas:

ü  Replacing Grey Infrastructure with Green Infrastructure (Steve Wise) -- The potential for green infrastructure to replace grey infrastructure is finally getting recognized at the federal level.

ü  Regional Approach to Climate and Energy Planning (John Cleveland)-- Significant economies of scale can be achieved by collaborating at the regional level on climate and energy planning.

ü  Sustainable Economic Development for Communities and Regions (James Nixon) – This comprehensive  paper focuses on the great economic opportunities that are inherent in the economic transformation required by climate change and environmental disruption.

ü  The Greenest Building is the One that Already Exists (Gabriel Works) -- Green new construction isn’t green enough when building renovation is an option – but this calculation isn’t built into climate action decision-making tools.

ü  New National Urban Sustainability Network Launches (Julia Parzen) -- Urban Sustainability Directors hold their first annual meeting in Chicago.

ü  Connecting Planning and Climate Change—Finally! (John Cleveland) -- The planning field finally gets serious about tools to measure the climate impact of their development designs.

ü  For Closing the Climate Gap—The Rise of “Climate Justice” (John Cleveland & Peter Plastrik) – As US cities respond to the challenge of climate change they must grapple with social and economic inequities.

ü  Car Sharing in Chicago: Extending the Transit System (Peter Plastrik) – This fast-spreading innovation defies conventional thinking about Americans’ “love affair” with their cars.

For more about Urban Sustainability Associates.